It’s a bold statement that won’t be much liked around Knightland. After all, it puts a bull’s-eye squarely on the Knights, making them a target in every game they will play this year. When you add the fact that there isn’t one team in the league that doesn’t enjoy handing the Knights their lunch whether the Knights are at the top of the league or not, it means there won’t be many nights off for this hockey club.

Don’t expect anyone on the Knights to say that. It’s an organization that works hard to make sure no one says anything or does anything that would be considered bulletin board material.

The more boring and mundane things are around Knightsland, the better Knights’ management and coaching staff like it.

But while it will be hard to get anyone to actually admit they should win the championship even before a game is played, you can bet that many in the Knights organization believe just that.

Why wouldn’t they?

There are some things which could happen that would make their run to a second consecutive OHL title a little more problematic. They could lose defenceman Scott Harrington to the National Hockey League when and if the NHL resumes play.

The goaltending tandem of Kevin Baillie and Jake Patterson might not give them the kind of goaltending they need. But if the exhibition season is any indication, Patterson and Baillie should be just fine.

Then you always have to worry about injuries.

“Everything has to fall into place,” said Knight’s general manager Mark Hunter. “We’ve got a good team but there are a lot of unknowns.”

Last year was not supposed to be the year the Knights made a run for a title. The development of second-year players like Seth Griffith, Chris Tierney, Ryan and Matt Rupert gave them the boost they needed.

The Knights lost some key contributors from last year’s team. They will especially feel the loss of Austin Watson, Jarred Tinordi and goaltender Michael Houser.

But it isn’t as if the cupboard was left bare. Early Central Scouting rankings have three Knights amount the top-ranked junior players in the country—Max Domi, Bo Horvat and new defenceman Nikita Zadorov.

Griffith is back, so are the mischievous Ruperts and Tierney.

And should there be a problem there’s always Mark Hunter, the Knights general manager.

Last year with the deftness of a pickpocket, he managed to nab Watson from Peterborough and the move won them and OHL championship and almost won them a Memorial Cup.

If they need something this year, Hunter has the resources to find whatever missing part the machine needs to run full out.

Last OHL season, the Knights won despite losing their head coach midway through the season. Dale Hunter went to Washington to fix the Capitals. Mark Hunter stepped in and doing double duty as coach and general manager got the team to within a goal of a Memorial Cup victory.

Dale Hunter is now back. He admits to having learned a great deal in his short stay in the NHL.

So now you have a smarter, more experienced Dale Hunter behind the bench and Mark Hunter with more time as general manager to focus on keeping the team running smoothly.

“Are we going to be the best team in the country? I don’t know,” Hunter said. “You look at Plymouth and they have a team that’s older and they’ll be tough.”

But all in all, it doesn’t sound like the Knights are too worried about being considered one of the top teams in the country.

That’s a good thing because starting Friday against Erie at the Gardens there will not be a game in which they won’t have to live up to that billing.

morris.dallacosta@sunmedia.ca

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Poll

Will the London Knights win the OHL title this year?

Clockwise from the top--Bo Horavt, Alex Broadhurst, Max Domi and Seth Griffith will take to the ice with their London Knights teammates Friday night when the Erie Otters visit the Budweiser Gardens in London, Ontario. Photo shot on Wednesday, September 19, 2012.DEREK RUTTAN/ The London Free Press /QMI AGENCY